


Get Out Alive

by thedissonantnote



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hollstein - Freeform, Shady Perry being Shady af
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-07
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-04-25 05:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4948708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedissonantnote/pseuds/thedissonantnote
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was done. The battle was over, and even with everything that was lost, they still won, in the end. Or so Laura thought.</p><p>What do you do when your friends start dying, one by one? What do you do when nothing makes sense and every good thing that happens to you seems to bring tragedy to your life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tumbling down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mhbills92](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mhbills92/gifts).



> This fic was written during episode 2x35, before episode 2x36 was released. Because of this reason, everything canon until that point is considered to be true in this universe, but I left what happened in the finale out of the fic because it didn't make any sense.
> 
> I hope you like it! Enjoy!

"...So that's what happened, gentle viewers! I'm gonna take a break from this, but I promise, I'll be back soon. Thanks for watching!" said Laura as she turned off the camera. It was done. The battle was over, and even with everything that was lost, they still won, in the end. The University was safe, Vordenberg was dead, Carmilla was back for good-which was a good thing (one Laura truly wasn't expecting)-and everyone seemed to be dealing pretty well with what happened, all things considered.

Kirsch was really sad about what happened to Danny. Actually, that’s a huge understatement; he was completely heartbroken. Laura felt bad for him; she truly did, seeing him walking aimlessly around the house, glancing towards the Summer Society HQ through the window, as if he almost expected to see her running in the track with her sisters. She missed Danny too of course, and she couldn’t shake the idea that this was her fault-despite of the several reassurances Carmilla had given her, claiming “ _Mattie, Vordie and I also played a huge rule there, Laura. You didn’t do this alone, not any of it.”_ _-_ But if anything, she felt tired. Really tired, and not just in a physical way, but in a mental way. She couldn’t take anything anymore, she didn’t know how to function properly, what to do, what was right or wrong, or even if such things existed anymore.

Despite all of this suffering, the one that seemed to be having most trouble dealing with everything was Perry. She hadn’t been the same since the semester started, and she had been victim of pretty much every bad thing that had happened. She spent most of her days asking everybody if they needed anything, and when they said they didn’t, she would clean every surface on sight, claiming the house was awfully dirty, even when it was spotless. After Lafontaine convinced her she needed to sleep, she took a few hours off and actually slept. When she woke up, she kept cleaning the house even if there was nothing to clean.

In order to stop her, Lafontaine had decided to take her with them to the lab so she could keep them company while they analyzed some samples taken from the battle. Kirsch was still moving his stuff to the Dean's house, since he had been kicked from the Zetas after what happened with Theo; JP was probably doing research now that the library was back-he seemed really interested in the properties of the Charter, and of Lophii’s blood-and Carmilla was being her broody self somewhere, a book in her hands, doing everything in her power not to think about her sister and the fact that she had lost the only family she had, the only person besides Laura she truly cared about.

Laura was about to finish editing her video when a much stressed Perry came running into the room, shaking; her eyes empty.

"Laura... Laura... You need to help. They... They-Oh my God!" Perry cried, tears falling from her eyes. Laura stood up and ran to hug her, doing her best to comfort her friend, even if she had no idea what was going on.

"Perry, slow down. What happened?"

She stopped sobbing-barely-and tried her best to explain what had happened "I don't know. We went to the lab and after I tried to clean the tubes they were using for the third time, they told me to go clean the other room. And so I did. Then... Then I don't really remember what happened and when I came back I-" she began crying again, Laura holding her in her arms, the weight of what Perry had just said settling in just as she began talking again. "I found them lying in a very strange position, the lab completely destroyed, as was their body. I have no idea what happened Laura, why would this happen?"

Now Laura was crying too, and they stayed like that for a while. Finally, Laura convinced Perry to take a shower and calm herself down, even if that was nearly impossible.

She sat down at the leather couch, and stared blankly to the wall, lost in thought- _why would anybody do this? What happened? Oh God, what´s going on?_

She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t hear Carmilla sitting next to her, putting an arm around her.

“What happened cupcake, are you okay?” she said, slowly rubbing her back, tracing patterns through her sweater.

“Carm, Lafontaine… They’re dead.” Laura said, the sobs she had been holding finally coming out; Carmilla instinctively hugging her, a sad expression on her face.

“I’m very sorry Laura… I actually kind of liked them.”

Laura stared at her for a moment, completely in awe. Carmilla liked Laf? Well, she seemed to stand them a whole lot more than the rest, but still. It was nice to know Carmilla was actually able to care about someone other than her. She smiled sadly at her, and put her head on her shoulder. Laura closed her eyes, feeling Carmilla’s slow, steady breaths next to her. It was calming somehow, to know she was there; that even if their relationship wasn’t what it was, she was still able to feel the way she did before. Maybe there was hope for them after all.

JP didn’t take Laf’s death well. He locked himself in the basement, only going out when he needed blood. Laura couldn’t blame him; his best friend in over a century had died. But JP hiding down there meant Carmilla was now in charge of doing the supply runs, something she seemed uncomfortable doing. When Laura asked about it, she simply said “It´s not the same without the Mad Scientist around. I feel uneasy now, as if something really bad was about to happen.”

Needless to say, Lafontaine’s death had been an incredibly tough blow for Perry. She had spent the first five days cleaning the house over and over-even the creepy basement nobody dared to come into now-and cooking incredibly large amounts of food that nobody was going to eat anyway because now wasn’t the time for eating.

Also, Lafontaine's death meant they wouldn't be able to do any other kind of research or learn anything that required advanced scientific knowledge-Sure, they had JP, but he refused to speak to anyone; and to be honest Laura wasn't really sure he could do it on his own. There was also the fact the labs were completely destroyed, along with the only evidence and samples they'd managed to get from the battlefield.

Laura had a really bad feeling about all of this, but forced herself to keep moving. She felt the need to record another video, to tell everyone what had happened, but she didn't even have the energy to do it. Tragedy followed her wherever she went, it was unavoidable. She wasn't sure it was worth trying anything anymore. She could feel nothing; nothing at all.


	2. Coming down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost two months had passed now, and everything was beginning to go back to normal. Things were okay now-as much as they could at Silas. But, of course, they can never stay that way for too long, right?

Almost two months had passed now, and everything was beginning to go back to normal. Turns out Mattie was right, Silas was experiencing upheaval at its time of transition. Things were okay now-as much as they could at Silas. The school was slowly going back to its creepy usual agenda; and everyone was just starting to get over what happened to Lafontaine-even Perry seemed to be a little bit calmer, now cleaning only when necessary. Kirsch was doing better, he had been spending a lot of time trying to clean the mess at the university, helping the Summer Society fix things whenever he could-at first they had been incredibly hostile towards him, but now they were almost civil. He had been kicked out of the Zetas, after all. JP was the one who was taking worse-he had spent the first days down in the basement, going out only when necessary. Almost a month ago he had vanished, and no one knew where he had gone to. Carmilla had tried to track him down, but she hadn't been able to find him. Laura was very worried, but Carmilla had told her he would come back when he was ready- _They were his only friend in a long time, cupcake. It'll take a while. Besides, I've taught him to take care of himself, he'll be fine._

Laura refused to let go though. She had been trying to find out anything she could about Lafontaine's death. Sadly, she had had no luck. The lab was completely destroyed, any possible evidence destroyed. Perry claimed she didn't remember anything, and she seemed so upset when asked about it that Laura decided it was better not to. She'd had enough.

She had started recording her videos again, if only to ask for help with the mess. It was helpless. Maybe Lafontaine did make a mistake-they were only human, right? Those things happen. Nobody was to blame. Sadly, that also meant there was nothing Laura could to, and that feeling of helplessness was something she didn't quite know what to do with.

At least Carmilla and her were back-well, sort of. A few weeks back, Laura had been comfortably sitting on the leather couch, marathoning Orange Is the New Black-it was amazing, why hadn't see seen it before? Oh yes, she was busy fighting for her life-when Carmilla came into the room, holding something behind her back.

"Uh, Laura? Can we talk for a moment?"

The shyness in her voice had alarmed Laura for a moment. Her relationship with Carmilla since the battle had been tense, to say the least-and, to be honest, Laura didn't know what to do; she felt the best way to handle it all was to give Carmilla time to heal, to process everything that had happened, but she was afraid that if she waited too long, it would be too late.

"What about?" she said, pausing Netflix.

"Us." she said simply, and it was all Laura needed. She tensed. For some strange reason she couldn't name, her first thought was _"Is she leaving?"_ She had promised she wouldn't, but after all that happened Laura wasn't sure of anything anymore. She needed Carmilla, there was no denying that, but did Carmilla need her? Would Carmilla ever forgive her for all the pain she had caused her?

"Laura? Are you listening?"

"What?"

"I said you were right. I should have helped more, and I'm sorry. I've been thinking about it and-"

"Carm, don't." she saw Carmilla's eyes lit up when she said her name-God, she'd get lost in those eyes if she didn't look away. She chose to look at Carmilla's hands instead-turns out she was holding a bottle of champagne. Typical. Laura wasn't sure if she was ready for this, but she wanted Carmilla back-no, she _needed_ her back. She couldn't do this alone. _To hell with it_ , she thought; she was just going to say what had been in her mind for the past few weeks.

"Don't what?"

"Just don't, it is me who needs to apologize-for everything. I refused to listen, I tried to change you, I denied the truth, even though it was right in front of my eyes. I'm sorry, Carmilla. I've had a hard time dealing with the fact that this wasn't entirely my fault-I'm still not convinced that it isn't; but I do know that I was wrong, I should have let you speak, I should have understood and respected your desires instead of pushing you to meet mine. I'm so sorry, Carm. Despite all that happened I..." she looked straight into Carmilla's eyes, the ones she hadn't dared to meet "I love you."

Carmilla, for the first time in centuries, was completely speechless. What this tiny little human did to her wasn't fair. She had been ready to apologize and try to fix things, sure-hell, she had even brought champagne to make it all more special. She had accepted long ago that she couldn't live without Laura; but she wasn't expecting to hear her say all those things-specially that she _loved her._ If she was being fair to herself, Carmilla couldn't remember when she heard that last time, if ever.

She could have said so many things, but instead she put the champagne aside and took Laura's hands in hers, and the mere touch after so long sent a shock down her spine. Laura's eyes were filled with warmth, with light, with kindness-things which Carmilla wasn't sure she deserved, but felt incredibly glad to have been given nonetheless. She leaned in, slowly, giving Laura time to react and, more importantly, to choose if she wanted to close the distance between them. She did.

The kiss felt different, somehow-better, in a way. Maybe it was because it had been a long time, or maybe because it meant not only that they were back, but that this was a new beginning-a completely new path for both of them. For the first time, they accepted each other as they were, without judgment. That kiss was a promise, a compromise, a surrender to the feelings they had been fighting for much too long. It also meant forgiveness, and understanding. They  didn't talk much after that, instead choosing to focus on each other and their own feelings-the ones that had been suppressed for so long, the ones that were finally free.

Now, weeks later, she found herself waking up next to her-the sun illuminating the room in an angle that suggested was still too early for Carmilla to wake up. Carefully untangling herself from Carmilla and finding something to wear, Laura made her way downstairs, looking for breakfast. She was still sleepy-she had been too busy to sleep properly-and didn't notice the strange figure at the bottom of the stairs until she stepped on it-literally. It was definitely not the floor. When Laura looked down, she realized it was Kirsch's body. She froze.

"Carmilla..." she whispered, her body unable to move, her throat dry. "OH MY GOD! CARMILLA!" she yelled this time, the realization of what was going on just hitting her. _It can't be; this can't be! Not again!_

A few seconds later Carmilla was standing next to her, horror in her expression. She looked down, following Laura's gaze only to find the source of her exaltation: Kirsch's lifeless body lying at the bottom of the stairs. She looked Laura in the eyes, as if asking for permission, and examined the body closer. It was mostly undamaged, except for his face, which was completely destroyed, as if he had hit himself against something repeatedly.

"How odd," she mumbled. She checked his pulse, even though she knew he was dead. God, the smell of blood was barely bearable. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to find a very shocked Laura, tears falling slowly down her face-like the quiet rain during summer, the one that's unexpected, unwanted.

"He fell down the stairs Carm?" Laura whispered, her voice so low that, if Carmilla wasn't a vampire, she probably wouldn't have listened her.

"It seems the most likely hypothesis... I'm not sure though. The wounds don't match. It seems as if he had been hit repeatedly, and the stairs are clean except for these last steps."

They looked into each other's eyes-fear in Laura's, concern in Carmilla's. Neither of them knew what was going on, but this could definitely not be a coincidence. Something else was going on, and they had to find out. Soon.


	3. Hold on, baby, hold on (Your tomorrow's not the same as today)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, shit keeps happening (Yeah, I suck at this. I'm sorry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably apologize. It's been, what? Two months? There's been a lot going on guys, I'm sorry. But I'm free now! Which means you'll be getting more chapters, soon. Thanks to everyone who has been waiting and, to whoever is coming for the first time, welcome!! I hope you like it!

Neither of them slept that night—Laura didn’t because she couldn’t; Carmilla, because she wasn’t going to leave Laura unprotected for one second; and Perry was still too shocked to do anything other than cook, clean, or stare at the ceiling with an empty expression. As much as Laura, and even Carmilla, tried to make her feel better, their efforts didn’t seem to do anything at all. Every time Carmilla tried to talk to her, she’d spat some sarcastic comment (which, I don’t even need to tell you, was not very Perry-like), and when Laura tried to calm her down, she’d hug her and cry for hours. Laura understood what she was going through—she had experienced something very similar when she thought Carmilla was dead. They decided the best thing they could do was give her time.

The videos were still a thing—if by a “thing” we consider a very sad Laura updating her viewers of their situation. They had become every time scarcer, until Carmilla convinced Laura maybe they could be used as a coping mechanism. _You know I don’t understand this maniac need of yours to document everything, but I also know you always seem a little bit brighter after you finish one._ Most of them weren’t even published, but Carmilla’s theory was proven right when she saw Laura was starting to get better.

Carmilla, after making sure Kirsch’s body was down in the basement, had gone out to get blood—as much as she could find—so she wouldn’t have to leave Laura’s side for one minute. To be honest, Carmilla had no idea what was going on and, even if she’d never admit it out loud, she was terrified. Something was lurking in the dark, taking Laura’s friends one by one. It wasn’t a coincidence; it wasn’t accidental, that much she knew. And yet Carmilla couldn’t put her finger on it. As far as she knew, Vordenberg was dead—and even if he wasn’t, subtlety had never been his thing—and so was Maman, and even Mattie. There was absolutely no reason to hunt any of them, maybe her, or Laura, but certainly no Laura’s friends.

She came back way later to find a very weird-looking Perry standing in the middle of the living room, her eyes wide-open, her messy curls out of control, her head tilted to one side, as if she was waiting for something. Carmilla raised an eyebrow as she walked towards her “Something wrong, Ginger Two?”

“I think we both know the answer to that, don’t you think?” she said coldly. _Damn, the poor creature is worse than I thought._

Carmilla sighed. “I guess we do, don’t we? I’m going to find Laura. Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Alright, then. Yell if you need anything.”

_Poor ginger_ , Carmilla thought and with that, she headed upstairs. She could hear Laura’s slow breathing as she approached the bedroom—which probably meant she was sleeping. She stood there, at the door, just looking at Laura, contemplating how the moonlight made her long, soft hair shine in a way that gave it an ethereal, unreal quality; how her lips were curled in the smallest of smiles; how her body seemed to be unconsciously looking for her in bed. She smiled at that.

One would think that, in moments like this, romance wouldn’t have its place. Well, they were _so_ wrong. _She’s so beautiful,_ Carmilla thought. It still made her head spin a little bit, actually being with Laura. This last year should have been the worst of her entire existence—She killed Maman, Mattie died, she almost died (several times), and she actually had to deal with a lot of Silas’ weird eccentricities. It had been the most stressful year of her entire existence, no doubt but, the worst? Hardly. Come to think of it, it was actually the best one she’d ever had ( _God, I must be crazier than I thought),_ because Laura made everything worth it. It was the first time Carmilla _knew_ she was _loved,_ not as an object, or a tool, or an ideal, but as a person (or a vampire; whatever). She was loved for being herself, nothing else. She’d never said anything to anyone—not even Mattie—but that was the only thing she had ever wanted. No matter how many places she’d visited, how many books she’d read, or how many years she’d lived, she had never, ever, experienced the kind of happiness she felt next to Laura. Even if the world was going to hell (as it had ever since she met her), everything seemed to be just fine so long as they were together. _Damn, maybe I actually am a sap._

That’s why she was scared shitless: because she didn’t know how to live without her; because she didn’t want to see Laura suffer, under any circumstances; because she _loved_ her so, so much she didn’t know what to do. Carmilla shook her head and walked towards the bed, lying down next to Laura, who automatically settled herself inside Carmilla’s arms, sighing softly. Carmilla couldn’t help the smile that escaped her lips. It was ridiculous how fast they had perfected this, how their bodies seemed to fit perfectly, as if they had been meant to be always together. She kissed Laura’s forehead softly, and received a low hum in response. That was the first night in a long time Carmilla, even if she didn’t sleep, managed to feel peaceful for once.

 

 

* * *

 

There was a funeral the next morning. It was lovely, as much as a funeral can be anyway. After the battle that took place a couple months ago, they had turned one of the corners of the campus into a small cemetery. It wasn’t cheery, true, but with the roads blocked and that many dead bodies, something had to be done. At least, Kirsch was buried near Danny, so taht was something. Most of the students were there, most of them Summers, and even some Zetas (he might have been kicked out, but he still had friends within the fraternity). Surprisingly, the funeral wasn’t really Laura’s idea but the Summer’s; it seems Kirsch did a lot more for them than Laura knew, and they felt the need to thank him in the only way possible for them now. Carmilla guessed the fact that Danny was a friend of him might have something to do with it too. Laura thought it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

Next to the grave, there was Carmilla—wearing black, as usual (finally her wardrobe was appropriate)—who was standing next to Laura, an arm around her waist, supporting her. It was all she could do. She had looked at the body more carefully the night before and confirmed her hypothesis: Kirsch didn’t fall down the stairs. She was determinate to find out who had done it—chances were, whoever it was, had also murdered Lafontaine—but she didn’t dare leave Laura´s side. She only had her now, and Perry—but she was the most unstable of them all and, after everything that had happened to her that semester, plus Lafontaine’s death, Carmilla couldn’t really blame her. Hell, she secretly even admired her resilience, the only reason why Carmilla had endured everything she had, was because mostly she had given up on the world, and its people. If she had cared, like Perry did... She probably wouldn’t have lasted a day.

Carmilla´s mind kept wondering until she felt Laura moving next to her. When she looked down, she realized Laura was putting a white flower over Kirsch’s cask, as it was laid down. As she drew back, Carmilla squeezed her shoulder and Laura, silent tears falling down her cheeks, granted her a tiny smile. Ever since she had met her, Laura had been hit incessantly—first Carmilla’s “death”, then the suffering of her friends, their breakup, Danny’s death (Carmilla couldn’t say she was particularly sad at that one, but anything that made Laura sad, made her a little sad too), and now, the rest of her friends were dying, one by one, and Carmilla didn’t know how to stop it. She felt so useless. What’s the use of being a “centuries-old badass vampire” if she couldn’t protect a couple of useless humans? She sighed and held Laura close. As long as Laura was safe, nothing else mattered.

Laura kept staring at the tomb, even though everything was over now, and people were starting to leave. Tears began falling down her cheeks, and Carmilla turned so she could catch them with her thumbs. “Oh Carm!” she cried, pressing herself against Carmilla’s chest, sobbing softly.

“Everything will be alright, darling” she mumbled against Laura’s hair. She wasn’t sure whether she was trying to convince Laura, or herself.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! As usual, thanks for reading, and if you find any mistakes (or have an idea), please let me know.
> 
> Comments are appreciated!
> 
> You can find me [here](%E2%80%9Duselessnerdyvampire.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D)


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